Heretofore, bridge-like structures were built with the intention of anchoring these systems to the alveolar bone of the jaw by means of implants. Such bridge-like structures are shown in the aforementioned related patents and also in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,157 to Fagan, Jr. et al., issued: Sept. 27, 1977.
In the latter related patents, the implant has flexible cups which are designed to engage with the soft alveolar bone tissue in order to sustain the lateral and occlusal loading forces of mastication.
In the patent to Fagan, Jr. et al., a stabilizer is used to engage the soft alveolar bone of the jaw in order to secure and provide additional anchoring stability against shifting masticatory loads.
While both these systems were useful for their time, they were not able to sustain severe loading forces in a downward direction. This was so, because the soft alveolar bone tissue would yield under extreme compressive forces, i.e. pressures of 150 pounds per square inch or more. In some unfortunate situations, these extreme downward forces would cause necrosis of the alveolar tissue, requiring removal of the implant and its artificial tooth structure.
The present invention seeks to build upon these old teachings and preserve the structuralability of these systems to sustain lateral and occlusal loads.
The present invention seeks to improve upon these teachings by improving the ability of the implant to sustain extreme downwardly directed forces.
The inventive system sustains the molar masticatory forces by anchoring the implant within the soft alveolar bone as before, but supports the implant blade upon the hard cortical plates of the jaw. The implant invention features bendable prongs that engage with, and rest upon, lingual and buccal cortical plates. The cortical plates being a hard portion of the jaw bone, are better adapted to sustain the downwardly directed forces applied to the implant.
The artificial tooth assembly of the invention also features parts which snap together for ease of assembly and disassembly.